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Hi guys !

I am trying to take pictures of my figs, and I have two set up. I would like to have your opinion on which one is the best.


This one, with only camera flash, non other source of light :




Or this one, with a spot on the top :



I also have to work to have a clean picture of all the figuirine

If they were my only choice I'd go with the second.

That being said, you have parts of both that are out of focus and the flash isn't doing it much favor. If you can, turn off the flash and have lighting from two angles above the model.

Also take the pic from a slightly higher angle to capture more of the mini. (and drill the strombolter.....)

Oh and the model looks great BTW

Definitely no flash at all, just try and use the spots from all angles, through diffusers if possible, thats the advice people have given me at least

Try to cover flash in your camera with clear white sheet of paper. That should help with dispersing that sharp reflections.

Also try to use white or light background - your mini is very bright and sometimes cameras have problems with balancing contrast. And colours shoud be little bit richier.

Cheers

Thanks for your tips guys, gonna try them tonight


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Also take the pic from a slightly higher angle to capture more of the mini. (and drill the strombolter.....)

you mean making small holes to figure the gun barrel ?

In both pics you needed more diffused light. But I prefer the second pic.

Also try getting a second light source so you don't have harsh shadows. And bring the background away from the model.

I've personally found that cameras have a harder time with white backgrounds than they do dark backgrounds, but in both cases the camera is fighting to resolve what's going on in the foreground with what's going on in the background.

Hey Dullspork, how do you do to have a whole black backgournd like that ?

I have try with some material, but I have not found something to give me a totally black background, without reflects, For the white one, this is a single paper sheet ?

 meecham63 wrote:
Hey Dullspork, how do you do to have a whole black backgournd like that ?

I have try with some material, but I have not found something to give me a totally black background, without reflects, For the white one, this is a single paper sheet ?

The things you need to do to get a black background are:

Have a black background
Keep it away from the mini (I would say that in this case the model is at least a good 18" from the background - even farther would be better)
Keep the light on the mini - don't let it spill on to the background. This may mean setting something between the lights and the background to create that shadow. Of course, if your mini is far enough away from the background then you don't have to worry about this too much. This also means that you don't want to shoot in a brightly lit room. I actually black out my windows before I shoot and turn off all other lights.
Having Photoshop doesn't hurt if you did everything else and it's just not black enough.

Thanks a lot !

White backgrounds, assuming you want pure white, Are different.

You want a LOT of light on the background - but you also don't want shadows so a lot of diffused light is key. Distance from the model doesn't matter as much in fact it's probably easier if it's a bit closer (as long as it's not so close that the model casts shadows). Photoshop is almost a necessity as you're probably going to want to be able to adjust the white balance after the fact and you'll want to clean up any dust or what have you near the model.

The white background on the pic above is actually just an old poster. I keep a bunch of those around just for this purpose.

So, after many tries, this is my final result :

Nicely done!